UK-Iranian woman returns to Tehran jail after plea rejected

AFP  |  London 

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman who has been held in for more than two years on charges, returned to prison today after temporary release, dashing her family's hopes of an extension.

"We have just heard the sad that Nazanin's extension has been refused and she has returned to prison," said a tweet on the "Free Nazanin" account.

"Here is the moment she said goodbye to a distraught Gabriella," it added, along with a picture of Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her four-year-old daughter.

She was unexpectedly released for a three-day furlough on Thursday, and was reunited with members of her family outside the Iranian capital.

Husband said they had received "mixed messages" from the Iranian authorities on Sunday, ahead of her return to

The had initially been told her request for an extension had been approved, but then received a call telling her to return to prison by sunset.

"She was shivering and shaking and crying - and said: 'How can you take me away from my baby, when she needs me'?" he said in a an email received by AFP "Gabriella was crying and sucking her thumb -- she didn't want her mummy to go back."

Ratcliffe said his wife, who has denied all charges filed against her in Iran, spent her time with her parents and daughter in Damavand, a mountain resort near

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the -- the media organisation's philanthropic arm -- was arrested at airport on April 3, 2016.

She is serving a five-year jail sentence for alleged

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sun, August 26 2018. 21:30 IST